Collapsible carrier



C. FLAGSTAD COLLAPSIBLE CARRIER Filed April 5 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Com E L Fleas TAP attonm 11 Aug. 17 1926.

C.FLAGSTAD COLLAPSIBLE CARRIER Filed April 5. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 14h mgnguwygln Gom/ELL Fmsa m0 tions,

of the securing nails, got-the edge of the head, and then move the head in the reverse direction, and thus releasing the bolts 14;. v

At the upper edges of the side sections C, I provide bridging members E and F, which are designed to increase or extend the hearing for the cover bolts whicli pass thercunder, and are arranged preferably between the ends of the sections, where they are most apt to bulge or spread away from the head. and thus these members effectively decrease if not eliminateaccidental displacement of the cover locking bolts. The member E consists of an inwardly bowed iron strap, the ends of which secured to the adjacent vertical slats 10. The locking member 21 may be grooved out, as indicated in Fig 1, so as not to interfere with the bridge The bridge 1, shown in Figs. l-an'd 2, is nailed flush onto the vertical crate slats l0, and is provided with reinforcing flanp'is 24 and 25, and an upwardly inclined fla u 26. Thus, if the head is a little large for its opening, even when contracted'tow rd the opposite side, and the cover rests upon the flange 26, it need only to be pushed or pressed down, and this action will auto? matically spread the side section away until the cover slips down into place.

The hinges D which are clearly illustrated, and havesome modifications, as indicated in Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, each consists of a pair ofnovaL strap iron members pivotally connected by a pintle. The hinge memhere may be identical in construction or one or both may be substituted by modified members. The specific construction of the hinge members and the method by which they are secured is of vital consequence and impor tance, especially as considered in the art of crate making, and will now be set forth in detail, attention being directed. particularly to Figs. 5, 6 and 7.

The hinge members will hereinafter he termed butts, and three designs 27, 528 and 29 are indicated, although they all have certain features in common; and the same statement is true of the pintles 30 and 31..

The butts are all substantially J-shaped so that they may be secured against both the outer and inner sides of the crate sec and are all provided or formed with loops 82 which serve as bearings for the pintles. These bearings are punched or bent out integrally from the adiacent or inner M. d corners of the butts, and are formed at angles of approximately forty-five degrees (se Fig. 5) to the sections on which the butts are secured, so that their centers will be offset, as shown. Thus when the sectime B and C are folded together sufficient space will be allowed'between the inner butt plates to freely accommodate the heads and at the two corners crate where the sections B Gare wood.

swung' into the same plane there will be enough room between the end portions of the butts to accon'nnodate the bent over ends of the pintles. The pintles may consist of ordinary rivets, as is frequently the case, but rivets have several disadvantages in this construction and are not as efficient asthe pintles 30, 31 which I have shown. Thus, as the bearing loops 32 are only pressed into shape they would easily spread from the riveting blows, and even if the rivets could be completed without distorting the bearings, there is always the possibility that an excessive strain on the crate will partly open the bearings and may even pull the adjacent end portion of the butt away from the end of the crate. In that event the rivet might slip through the narrow of the bearing to the wood, and unless the rivet has an unusually large head it might even fall out of the hinge entirely and be lost. To overcome these difficulties I provide the pintles 30 and 31. The pintle 30 is anail, the head of which is obviously a good deal larger than the head of an ordinary rivet of the same size, and would not fallthrough the bearings under any ordinary circumstances. The opposite end of the nail is bent back upon the outer periphery of the bearing and engages thereagainst, so as to clampthe nail in place and prevent it from slipping through'the neck of the bearing should it open, as above mentioned. It will also be noted, especially in Fig. '5, that the bent end of the'nail pintle is to the outside of the crate so that it cannot mark or mar any of the articles shipped in the crate, in the modification shown in Fig. 7 both ends of the wire pintle 31 are bent about the bearing. thus further emphasizing and adding to the advantages of the bent nail pintle.

The hinge butts are nailed to their respective crate'sections, but the nail holes in the butts are so arranged that a distinct advantage, in firmly securing the butt-s to the wood, results. Thus, when the butt 27 is in place upon the crate section, the first nails 33 are driven from the outside in and clinched over against the inner plate, a steel block or some other object being held against the plate to prevent the end thereof from being bent out. The nails 34 are then driven from the inner-side, and as they strike the outer plate at points intermediate the nails 33 they will not only clinch against the outer plate, (as shown) but will also tend to slightly bulge the outer plate between the heads of 33, and by so doing will obviously increase the tension-between the outer plate and-the heads of the nails 83, and make them. ore rigid and, firm. inthe The hinge butts 28 and 29 are shown with their inner, plates 29 considerably longer than their outer p ates '28 t e 'abi'eqt eei s' to proportion the sizes of these plates to the relative strains to which they are put, and

thus economize on the material used in the Thus, as the vertical sections of the forced outwardly the hinge will be eiiectivo substantially through the forty-live degree line shown in Fig. 5. This being true the strains will obviously be equal on both plates 29 and 29", but the strain on the plate 29 is directly taken up by only the nails driven through it, but the plate 29 is bent at right angles thus forming a hook, as 35, which pulls directly upon the sect-ion, and thus eliminates the strain on the nailof the shorter plate to a great extent.

Having now fully shown and described my invention what I claim to be new and desire to protect by United States Letters Patent is:

l. The combination in a crate having a detachable head adapted to be slidably secured thereon, of a locking member hingedly arranged on the crate near one edge of the hinges. crate are pulled or normal strain to the head, and spring means for normally 'hold- I ing said locking member in a loking position between a part of the head and the adjacent wall of the crate.

2. The combination of a crate having a head adapted forth and back movement thereof, a spring retained locking member adapted to yieldingly lock the head in its closed position, and hinges tor movably securing the lock- ,ing member in place.

3. The combination with a crate, of a head therefore having retaining members at opposite edges thereof adapted to be engaged into opposite sides of the crate by sliding movements of the head, a locking member adjacent to the retaining members at one side of the crate for preventing sliding of the head, so as to lock it to the crate, and means for hingedly securing the locking member to the head.

a. In a crate having end sections and side sections, the upper edges of the end sections to be secured thereon by a' 5. The combination with the side and end sections of a crate, of a head comprising longitudinally extending members and transverse members, said transverse members pro ecting, beyond the longitudinal members for sliding engagement with the side sections of the crate, and a hingedly mounted locking member independent of said head members for engagement with one of the side sections to lock the head between said side sections.

6. The combination with side and end sections of a crate, of a head comprising longitudinal members and transverse members, said transverse members continuing in rigid extensions beyond the outer longitudinal members for sliding engagement with opposite sections of the crate, and a locking member hingedly secured upon one of said outer longitudinal members for against the adjacent section of the crate.

7. A crate having a detachable cover provided with a rigidly projecting bolt adapted to engage one of the side walls of the crate, a bridging member secured upon the inner side of said side wall so as to frictionally receive the cover bolt, said bridging member having an inwardly sloping flange for engagement by the bolt so that the side section will be sprung outwardly when the rigid bolt of the cover is pressed down against the bridging member.

In, testlmony whereof, I aiiix my signature. V

CORNELL FLAGSTAD.

engagement 

